Che Games for May (2009)!

Believe the hype: May 29-31, 2009, is the time and San Diego is the place for the Che Underground’s 25-year reunion and performance showcase.

A crack team of musical geniuses, party planners and cranky old hipsters is hashing out the details, which will be forthcoming in this space. But go ahead and book your E-tickets now for a long weekend in America’s Finest City!

Among the bands on track for the show, Che Games for May will feature:

And we’re not done yet! The weekend will offer myriad opportunities to catch up, tune up and get hip to the flip-out. But it won’t be a party without all of you.

Watch this space for more details — and please drop us a line with questions or suggestions.

74 thoughts on “Che Games for May (2009)!”

  2. First call to action: Who can help create an audiovisual record of this event?

    Among other karmic do-overs, this gathering will let us document our friends and our music in ways we didn’t foresee the first time out.

    We’ll roll tape (or bytes) for sure, but we also need great videography and photography to do the moment justice.

    Which of our media professionals will get ahead of this once-in-a-quarter-century event?

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  3. RIGHT ON!!!
    Where is the venue?
    The Untouchables reuniting, original members would be a fab addition.
    I hope and insist that all of you hipsters are voting today. Most importantly,voting correctly!!!

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  4. As I was etching this in big letters into my calendar, I saw this point that needs clarifying:

    Monday, May 25, 2009 is officially Memorial Day next year. May 29-31 is the weekend after that. I assume those are the correct dates, right?

    Any case, the handheld vid camera, stills camera, etc. will come with me. I can’t wait!

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  5. Paul Kaufman: D’oh!! I shall now remove the Memorial Day references from this post. From May 29-31, we shall memorialize ourselves with this wonderful event.

    Robyn: Tim Mays has extended us the use of the Casbah for at least one heat of this victory lap. We are carving out the other venues right now! 🙂

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  6. One cranky old hipster at your disposal. Hand out nametags at the front door? Just kidding! Please let’s refrain from making it like my highschool reunion or a geriatric band reform at Barona! haha. I’m excited about this! Have already booked grandparents to have the kiddo for the weekend.

    and I’m giving Cricket the first dance 😉

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  7. I will be there and can be put to work in any capacity! All right Matthew et al, thanks for organizing.

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  8. >>Please let’s refrain from making it like my highschool reunion or a geriatric band reform at Barona!

    Actually, that might be a fun little conversation propellant: What don’t people want this event to include? 🙂

    I vote with Kristen against name tags!

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  9. We need catering from one of our fave restaurants.
    I’ve been to the Avalon Tattoo parties at the Casbah and the SSSC 25th anniversary had food. It made for some great grindage.

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  13. K…just a joke rilly

    I can come, but somebody should be warned I’ll most likely bring my kids.

    Do tell me somebody has been in touch with the folks at the Che…

    Patrick Works
    I love sick jokes

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  14. Yay!! Patrick’s comin’!!! The silicon chip inside my head got switched to “Overload”!!!

    We like kids — many of us have them, and most of us have been known to act like ’em! Seriously, we want this to be a real cool time for everyone. Maybe childcare options should be part of the planning, if enough folks are coming from out of town with their young’uns and need some help in that department.

    There have been some convos with the Che … I would dearly love to make that scene, logistics permitting.

    Bottom line: We should have a tighter itinerary in about a month — but considering how many people need to make home and work and travel arrangements well in advance, we wanted to maximize lead time while we continue to sweat the details.

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  17. I don’t mind staying with the kids one night so that people can get out and have a good time. If we can’t find anyone else of course. Maybe there are some older kids that can watch the younger ones. We could chip in and pay them.

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  19. Hey Gang!
    I am over the moon that the Reunion is confirmed!
    I’ll be there with bellls on, comfortable shoes, and a microphone!
    I look forward to seeing the old gang….
    Patrick, Bobby, Kristen, Kristina & James Harrell…so on and so forth, kids included!

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  20. Paul and I will be there with Pia (she is 18). Please let us know what we can do or if you need assistance in any area (cameras, filming etc). We are both really into photography so we will bring our cameras (video as well).:) Looking frwd to the reunion!!! <3

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  26. I agree,a daytime show at the Che would be great,let’s continue the all ages tradition!I’d love to bring my son and see him run wild in the Che garden with everybody elses kids!

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  27. Just boys for me -- 11 and 8. Does the thought of having a Che family picnic freak anyone out as much as it does me?

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  32. I so wish I could go to this and meet up with folks again, meet some I only know from here, and endure the justified ridicule of the next generation. Alas, it looks unlikely… And it was ever thus. My goody-goodyness as a high school student kept me from having all the fun I should’ve, and now--instead of seeing all of you--I’ll be grading papers and sitting with the faculty in cap and gown at my school’s graduation.

    As to the science project, I too have a first-born girl (age 9) and a boy (age 4). In all seriousness, I know a Navy guy, father of three daughters and zero sons, who says it’s a well-known fact that any guy who gets anywhere near a nuclear sub won’t be having any male progeny. A lot of us, like me, grew up real close to navy bases, including the nuclear subs in Point Loma. Has anybody studied NavyBrat birth rates in terms of their gender distribution? How about for San Diego as a whole? Somebody get on this!

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  33. OK Che day-gig would be nice. As I remember there is a pretty long set of stairs out front that leads down to the patio and thence into the Cafe proper…

    Great place to assemble for a group picture.

    Kids first…then add the old geezers.

    I’ll bring my camera.

    Patrick

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  34. Not to drop the zoo on the stats, but my oldest is 18 and male. I do have a 10 yr old girl and 8 yr old boy here in Texas with me, but my 18 yr old is at U of Oregon.

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  35. >>Not to drop the zoo on the stats, but my oldest is 18 and male.

    (Paul Fehlman was wearing the comfortable harem pants while the rest of us were wedging our genetic legacy into those pegged jeans.)

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  38. I will definitely try to make it out from Atlanta in May. I am going to be in SD Dec 6-14th coming up. And I too have a boy, Arlo is going to be 14 on Christmas day. If anyone wants to hit me up while I’m out there send me an email.

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  39. Hey Matt,
    My offer to put together a few short films to introduce the bands at the big show is still on the table. I was also thinking it might be ULTRA cool to put together a giveaway CD featuring songs from all of the Che Underground bands. It’ll take a little startup capital, but I would definitely be willing to produce the thing. What do the rest of you think?

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  41. Hello Joe,
    It has been ages!!!
    I have suggested in the past how great it would be to get together for drinks at Christmas when people are home for the holidays.
    Is anyone interested?

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  42. Not that many would remember “my” band, but reuniting The Frame (Chris Fite, Jordan Faris, Clifton Winnard, Dave Anderson, Mark Stern) for the Che gig would be a personal fantasy. At some point I can get the 7 songs we did in 1983 (at Hit Single in Lemon Grove?) to Matthew to upload if there’s any interest. In addition, I have flyers from gigs from Greenwich Village West, as well as others from the all-ages club New Generation I booked which feature Manual Scan, Hair Theater, Synethesia, 3 Guys Named Jesus and more.
    Oh yeah, and I have a 4 year old girl.

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  43. Yeah- shoot- more music is better. We’re pretty much up to a pretty large definitive San Diego underground box set at this point, between all the bands and genres.

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  44. This is gonna be a mighty compilation set, alright. I’m into getting a Che comp CD packaged by May (can offer production help also), and movie intros would be fantastic as well. Better and better.

    Never got to hear The Frame — yes, please post some tracks!

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  45. There are a lot of “Pauls” in the Che Underground crowd. Almost as many as “Daves”. Would be cool to tie the “Dave Fest” into our reunion. “Dave Fest 2009”. “21st Century Dave and Paul Fest”.

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  46. OK, I propose a band with Dave Rinck on vocals, Dave Fleminger, Dave Ellison and Paul Allen on guitars, Dave Anderson on drums (trading off with David Klowden and Paul Brewin), Paul Howland sampling and playing bass, and I’ll play bass when he’s not. And I’ll trade off with Paul Fehlman. Did I leave anyone out? It’s ok, just jump up on stage…

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  49. Hey Robyn, good to hear from you. I would definitely be interested but unfortunately will be back in Atlanta during Christmas this year. The whole cross-country dad thing sucks. He lives in Coronado and I in Georgia. By the way, if anyone is ever headed out this way, by all means, feel free to stay here -- and then it about 6 hours down to visit Cricket (Bobo).

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  51. Ray, a comp CD is a great idea. I’ll pitch in a little cash. It would be really cool too if someone can get a good recording of the reunion show and to make CD(s) of that too. I know it’s hard to document events and participate at the same time, but there should some coordination to make sure things are recorded.

    Mark Stern, I’d like to hear The Frame too. I had thought you booked at the Greenwich Village West. Where was the New Generation club, and what was it like? The neurons aren’t firing on that one.

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  52. Cole! What about the Dogs reuniting for this extraordinary event? Surely you can git yer ass out west! 😉

    Mark Mullen: Hi! What’s up? I see you’re in GA? Post me: loribevi@gmail.com

    Dave Ellison: Are you still in touch w/ Tracy? We used to hang out a lot here in SF back in the mid 80s, then we just sorta lost touch. I know she was married w/ a little boy.

    Oh, count me in for a 15-yr-old girl. I’m sure she would love to help babysit the youngins.

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  56. Yo Dave, What are the chances of getting the Rockin’ Dogs in on the bill? I’ll never forget playing Marc Bolan’s “Endless Sleep” at our Che Cafe gig. We opened with “Pills” as I recall.

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  59. Cole, I completely forgot that we did Endless Sleep …makes me wish we’d taped some of our shows.

    Lori, you’d have to call up Sam and talk him into it…haha.

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  60. >>makes me wish we’d taped some of our shows.

    Dave Ellison: Among my Top 10 wishes would be the discovery of a heretofore forgotten live tape by the Rockin’ Dogs. Most of us sucked pretty bad at archiving — and clunky early-’80s tech didn’t make it easy — but we’ve located performances by everybody else. It breaks my heart that no one was rolling tape at any Dogs shows — you guys were such a great live band!

    Paging Sam Wilson! 🙂

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  61. Dave: I’m not afraid. Gimme his #. Stat! 😀

    This HAS to happen guys. The Dogs continue to be one of my personal faves. And I’m not just sayin that cuz I was one of the g/f’s. 😉 I listen to these mp3s posted here and if you can believe it, I still remember every word! The music is classic and still rockin’ after all these years…

    Cole: Do you still have those Super 8 movies I shot of the gigs? (I thought I gave them to you.) Surely there must be a way to txfr to DVD.

    Oh, speaking of movies, if any other scenesters have any footage, it would be really cool to show it at the Games.

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  62. >>Do you still have those Super 8 movies I shot of the gigs?

    WHOA! There are MOVIES of the Rockin’ Dogs?? Holy SHIT. OK, that completely blows my mind. I would be so happy to see this stuff … I’d sit there and watch it over and over, like Gloria Swanson in “Sunset Boulevard.”

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  64. Thanks for the compliments, you guys!

    Looking back, it’s hard to believe we didnt tape the shows and rehearsals with a cassette recorder. I guess playing in a band, you never really think that you’ll want to look back years later and remember it.

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  65. Yup, I surely did tape at least ONE show. (I wanna say it was the Dogs/Wallflowers gig at the Syndicate on March 31, ’84 in Pt. Loma — I’m remembering beach atmosphere.) Cole has (had) the tape. I even had a projector that I got at Sav-On when I worked there. When we split, obviously I gave Cole got the tape. I threw in the projector for good measure. 🙂 We’ll just have to wait for Cole’s answer (with bated breath and fingers crossed). No pressure, Cole. Man, maybe I shouldn’t have gotten everyone’s hopes up. It’s funny, now that I’m a parent you appreciate the value of taping everything. 😉

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  68. henry is ten and loves a good show. i’ve taken him to a flaming lips show (where HE ended up backstage), pearl jam at the gorge, radiohead in golden gate park and a few local daytime gigs. he’s a vet. loves live music.

    and he is eager to meet all my childhood/young adulthood friends.

    p.s. i think nametags would rule. but they have to be snarky. really, really snarky.

    p.p.s. pat, man, i love mondays… but brenda spencer STILL scares me.

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  69. Rankin’ Pete!
    Great to hear you are not only still kicking, but thriving as well. I’ll second everything that Toby said and add that you were responsible--indirectly or directly--for quite a few of the most memorable experiences of my young and misguided youth. (Don’t know if you remember or not, but one night hanging out in front of the King’s Road, wild-eyed with a pocket full of Black Beauties, I “borrowed” the door stamp and proceeded to get about ten people in for free. You snapped me out of it pretty quickly! I never forgot your graciousness or your forgiving nature.) Anyway, those were some good times--DJing at King’s Road, hanging out with the Crawdaddys, Firestone Tires parking lot, etc. And later on, the Pink Panther, of course, was the all time greatest hangout spot.

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  70. Pete,

    Great to see you here. And I recall that Adams Ave Theater show semi-carnage quite well, as we were one of the two mod bands. Of course, flash forward two decades, and it becomes a great bill at the Casbah. Go figure.

    And you’d DAMN well better make it down for the May events. You were honestly the catalyst for much of it.

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  71. Ray- I didn’t want to bring up the stolen stamp incident- my god you must have apologized to me for over a decade. You know looking at the posters for opening night- the $4.50 we charged for Social Distortion was a tad high for sure!

    Anyhow things are looking good- The Crawdaddys /TT Hearts thing is of big interest to me. What about the Hedgehogs? That was a great band. Is Ron or Keith still part of the Crawdaddys thing?

    It would be nice to have some kind of Kings Rd/I-Blend special happy hour somewhere If I come down. I would be up for hosting at the Riviera Supper Club too- Tim’s new place. A early evening dinner might be fun.

    Anyhow keep me in the loop. I am still producing one annual show in Seattle- http://www.elvisinvitationals.com Check it out- still the friggin’ promoter- always!

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  72. Peter: Any event that uses the term “Elvii” in its promotions is jake with me! Please send photos to share … This blog needs more posts about what folks are doing now. 🙂

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  73. It’s interesting that most everyone seems to be as creative (and in most cases, maybe even more creative) than in our formative years. Definitely we need a topic on how everyone is venting their creative bent these days. I’ll leave it at that and save the long winded rant for the actual thread. 😉

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